Open up to integrated SSO with your library resources.

OpenAthens is designed to interoperate with existing systems and support SAML software like Shibboleth, ADFS, Ping Federate and OKTA.

A librarian or knowledge manager oversees different library technologies. In organizations – large or small – efficiencies are gained and time and money saved when the systems work together. Connectivity is a core goal for OpenAthens and we have designed our platform to work simply and securely with existing software to remove unnecessary complications for IT teams and information professionals.

Key Features

SAML Interoperability

Security Assertion Markup Language is an XML-based, open-standard data format for exchanging authentication and authorization data. In particular, between an identity provider and a service provider. If supporting software follows these standards, OpenAthens can build a relationship between either party to establish single sign-on. SAML expertise does not always exist within teams so OpenAthens is built to carry the responsibility of SAML management and maintenance.

‘Enterprise' single sign-on

If your organisation already maintains single sign-on across a range of internal and web-based applications, OpenAthens creates the bridge that extends this single sign-on experience to the full range of journals, websites and research applications your organization subscribes to. The need to maintain and synchronize duplicate databases of users is removed. Security permissions can be managed centrally and the need for constant updates are removed.

Specialist support and documentation

Every license is supplied with comprehensive documentation to help you install, configure and optimise your deployment for maximum effectiveness. We are on hand to help if you have questions or problems. We also run on and offline training sessions to help you make the most of the software and you can sleep well knowing that we offer dedicated support with 24/7 infrastructure monitoring.

Integrated Identity and Access Management

The growth of web based applications, mobility and the need for security and licence compliance has seen increasing use of IAM solutions. Large organisations are investing in software to manage business critical applications. OpenAthens is a powerful and flexible tool that integrates the world of knowledge management with existing systems. If you use ADFS, LDAP, SirsiDynix, PING Federate or other SAML systems we will open up your users to a wealth of information.

See OpenAthens in action

We regularly run open demo webinars for any IT professionals wishing to learn more about OpenAthens.

Have you got your e-resources set up?

OpenAthens by itself does not deliver or ‘contain’ content. It is a software product that enables organisations to provide a single sign-on service to the online resources they already subscribe to. You need to separately purchase and maintain licences for the journals, e-books, databases etc that you wish to make available to your colleagues, patrons, students etc.

If you already have such site licences, please complete this form and we’ll be in touch shortly. Otherwise, your first step will be to establish which e-resources you wish to subscribe to for your organisation. Then approach the publishers and vendors about a site licence or use a subscription agent such as EBSCO to manage all this for you. Once set up, we would be delighted to work with you to provide the next step; creating a seamless, single sign-on experience for your end users across your e-resources.

If you are a publisher or vendor interested in OpenAthens service provider products, please skip this question.

Information Resources Specialist, Aston University

“The ease of use and flexibility of OpenAthens has been invaluable to Aston University in enabling us to transform the service we provide to students, staff and our partner institutions.”

Quick FAQs

What’s the difference between Shibboleth and OpenAthens?

Shibboleth is an extension of SAML which provides a single sign-on infrastructure and reference implementation. It is not a product and therefore no support service is available with the code. OpenAthens provides a suite of supported software and services which allow publishers and institutions to connect to each other via SAML/Shibboleth.

We don’t need OpenAthens as we use IP Authentication?

IP Authentication works for on-site access, but doesn’t work so well for off-site or BYOD access to e-resources. If your end-users need access to your resources from their own devices or from off-campus locations you will need OpenAthens; and if you have OpenAthens, why not use it for all scenarios and give end-users a consistent way of working for all situations?